Esa Appeal. So Very Scared.

xsunnysuex

Hi. I have my ESA appeal on 14th July. And I am scared stiff. I know I am going to be a complete wreck on the day.

What scares me most is the fact I have no supportive evidence, except for letters from family members.

I asked my doctor for a letter of support and he stated that the medical certificate he had just renewed for me was supporting evidence. He then said "They only throw letters in the bin because they know a doctor is going to be sympathetic towards their patients. If they want to know anything, they will write to me"

I suffer from severe depression, due to things that happened in the past. Including something very serious that happened to my daughter that really blew my world apart.

I have had counselling. And I also had appointments with mental health psychologists. But both failed. I find it impossible to talk about what happened. Especially what happened to my daughter. So, I was eventually discharged back to my doctor.

Will the appeal people look down on me for that? I can imagine them saying "Well, she isn't trying to help herself"

I feel really sick with fear about what will happen on the day. I have supplied a letter explaining everything that happened. But even that had to be written by my brother.

Will they question me in detail about what happened to my daughter? I really couldn't deal with having to talk about it.

I feel really alone right now.

Raksha

Couldn't read and run, I've had some !!!! in my life too, but I'm 'lucky' it's never been a problem for me to talk about.

Just wanted you to know you're not alone though.

SmartPricePoster

Pressure your doctor into writing a letter. My doctor wrote a letter for my tribunal.

rogerblack

They will discuss anything that seems relevant to your case.
You may find the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L8EPHDjeqU&feature=plcp useful.
This is a video explaining the process.

In principle you can write to the tribunal, requesting that they request evidence from your doctor, and ask them to postpone until this is done.

heartbreak_star

No real advice, just wanted to leave a *hug* for you.

HBS x

mazroy

I have my Esa appeal on 11th July and would like to say the following. Get your self some professional advice...this could be from the Citizens advice Beurea or a welfare right officer. If your family are supportive get them to help you find this help. I have a welfare rights officer helping me and without him I'd be the same as you...I wouldnt even go and possibly would be on JSA now when Ive not much chance of holding down a job....good luck.

mynameistallulah

If your GP is unwilling to help, you could get a report from a private psychiatrist. This is likely to cost around £250 (depending on your area), but it would be money well spent if it secured your benefit entitlement for the foreseeable future. They may also be able to give you some idea of treatments that can help you move forward - often NHS practitioners are unwilling/ don't have time to discuss alternative treatments, so a third party can be a good sounding post for you.

nannytone_2

I do empathise, as I'm not a 'talker' either.
In the past 4 years I've had a really traumatic time, anf to be honest, I really don't know how I've carried on at times.

But to be honest, without supporting evidence from a professional, I really think you will struggle at tribunal.

Good luck anyway.

earthbound_misfit

Would your doctor be willing to write a letter that just states briefly what services you've been referred to previously? So they know that you have tried to get help, and obviously are struggling in order to have been referred?

Or do you have/could you obtain any copies of discharge letters that have a bit of detail? ie. they outline your mental health upon leaving the service. (I had one once that said I'd made some progress but was still 'significantly impaired'). This might be better if you have the corresponding referral letter - so you have one saying you suffer x, y and z and are being referred, then a discharge letter saying they feel the service isn't helping (so u must still suffer x, y and z).
If you manage to get ESA, I cannot stress how important it is to try to get help, even if you have to go private and scrimp and save from the ESA. There are places that do a sort of pay-what-you-can approach to therapy.
Good luck xx

atrixblue.-MFR-.

ease youself by thinking the tribunal services is not the DWP, they are there to ask you questions and you explain your illness/disability to them to get a better picture of you and your entitlement to the correct level of benefit thats in line with LAW. take someone with you who knows you best they can also speak either on your behalf if things get too much and you have to have a break or point out things that you may have missed out and express thier concerns to the tribunal about your mental state and coping needs, they can even explain in your abscence if need be the past events that you feel you cant talk about and i think would be key to a decent background of why you have mental health issues to start with. the panel will be a doctor and a judge and they are not there to be harsh or be horrible and tell you that your not going to have your benefit, they will want to put you into a correct class of benefit.

epitome

Remember if you started the appeal process before Jan14th 2012, if you lose the appeal you can then just claim ESA again if it is an ESA IR claim you will be paid again on your new claim, and start the whole process over again.

Otherwise you have to wait 6 months (from date your claim closed) before you will be paid on a new claim * ....which is why I said January14th ....see?

*Unless your condition worsens